Jaiden Delaire

Draft Notes: Hawks, Hornets, Smith Jr., Heat, Delaire, Gardner

Kentucky guard Cason Wallace, who worked out for the Wizards on Monday, will not participate in his previously scheduled workout for the Hawks on Tuesday, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Sincere Carry (Kent State), Armaan Franklin (Virginia), Seneca Knight (Illinois State), Xavier Castaneda (Akron), Toumani Camara (Dayton) and Vincent Valerio-Bodon (Sopron KC) will visit Atlanta on Tuesday. The Hawks hold the No. 15 pick in the first round.

We have more draft-related news:

  • Camara and Franklin were among the prospects who visited the Hornets on Monday, the team’s PR department tweets. Colby Jones (Xavier), Justyn Mutts (Virginia Tech), Julian Phillips (Tennessee) and Daivien Williamson (Wake Forest) also worked out for Charlotte. Jones and Phillips are considered potential first-round picks.
  • Arkansas guard Nick Smith Jr., a potential lottery pick, will visit the Heat in the near future, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Smith worked out for Washington on Monday.
  • San Diego Jaiden Delaire will remain in the draft, according to Zagoria. Delaire, who averaged 9.2 PPG and 5.3 RPG last season at San Diego, had his waiver request to play another college season denied by the NCAA. Delaire appeared in just 12 games last season due to broken toe and broken thumb but is “100% healthy now,” he told Zagoria (Twitter link).
  • Marist center Patrick Gardner has worked out for the Warriors, Nets and Magic, Zagoria reports in another tweet. He also has workouts scheduled with the Wizards, Bucks, Cavaliers, Pelicans and Celtics. Gardner averaged 19.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG and shot 38.3% from 3-point range last season.

Draft Notes: Lofton Jr., Bynum, Brooks, Delaire

Louisiana Tech forward Kenneth Lofton Jr. has decided to remain in the draft, he revealed on his Twitter page. Lofton, who was named to the All-Conference USA first team, averaged 16.5 PPG and 10.5 RPG in 33 games last season as a sophomore. Lofton is not currently projected to be drafted, but turned some heads at the G League Elite Camp.

We have more draft decisions:

  • Providence’s Jared Bynum is withdrawing his name and returning to the Friars next season, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. The junior guard averaged 12.2 PPG and 4.0 APG last season.
  • Kentucky forward Keion Brooks is removing his name from consideration, Jeff Goodman of Stadium tweets. Brooks, who is in the transfer portal, started 33 games for the Wildcats and averaged 10.8 PPG and 4.4 RPG.
  • San Diego forward Jaiden Delaire, a Stanford transfer, is also withdrawing from the draft, Rothstein adds in another tweet. He averaged 10.1 PPG and 4.0 RPG while starting 26 of 32 games for the Cardinal last season.

Two Arkansas Players Among Draft’s Recent Early Entrants

Arkansas sophomore forward/center Jaylin Williams announced this week that he’ll test the NBA draft waters this spring, entering the 2022 draft pool while maintaining his college eligibility, as Curtis Wilkerson of HawgSports.com details.

A reserve for most of his freshman year, Williams entered the starting lineup for the Razorbacks in 2021/22, filling up the box score with 10.9 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 SPG, and 1.1 BPG in 37 games (31.6 MPG). While he only made 46.1% of his shots from the field, including 23.9% from the floor, Williams made the All-SEC First Team and SEC All-Defensive team. He’s currently the No. 45 prospect on ESPN’s big board.

Williams’ teammate, Arkansas senior shooting guard Au’Diese Toney, is also entering the 2022 NBA draft, he announced on Instagram. Toney’s announcement doesn’t say anything about maintaining his final year of NCAA eligibility, so it sounds like he intends to go pro after averaging 10.5 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 36 games (32.4 MPG) for Arkansas following three seasons at Pitt.

Here are a few more players who recently declared for the draft or announced they intend to:

Expected to remain in draft and forgo remaining NCAA eligibility:

Testing draft waters: